HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Paige Alms of Haiku advanced to the final 48 before being eliminated from the Women's U.S. Open of Surfing on Wednesday at Huntington Beach Pier.

Alms finished second in the round of 60, then was third in her round-of-48 heat.

In the first round, Alms took an early lead by earning five points on the first wave of the heat. She finished with a score of 8.10, second to Kim Mayer of California. Rebecca Oakley (6.90) of Australia was third, and countrywoman Paige Houden (6.13) was fourth.

In the round of 48, Alms finished with 9.43 points. Oahu's Melanie Bartels, an Association of Surfing Professionals Dream Tour competitor, won the heat with a 17.66, the third-best score of the tournament so far, and Karina Petroni of Florida was second with a 13.50. Sage Erickson (8.47) of California was fourth.

Bartels had a single-wave score of 9.33 in that heat, tied for the fourth-best in the competition.

''I just got that little right off of the pier and I just tried to hit it as many times as I could,'' Bartels was quoted as saying on aspworldtour.com. ''We haven't had an event in a long time, and this is a great contest to get us in the groove again after the break.''

The men's tournament is scheduled to resume today with the round of 96. Four Maui surfers remain in the field - Ian Walsh of Kuau, Kevin Sullivan and Dusty Payne of Lahaina and Ola Eleo-gram of Hana.

Walsh has the fifth-best heat score so far, a 16.34 in the round of 144, and Sullivan has the 10th-best, a 15.77 in the same round.

Walsh's single-wave score of 9.17 in the round of 144 is the sixth-best of the competition.